


Strawberries

by JudyDo



Category: Duran Duran
Genre: Birthday, M/M, Strawberries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 12:41:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11148636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JudyDo/pseuds/JudyDo
Summary: Andy wants to surprise Nick for his birthday.





	Strawberries

"He's an awful man," Andy stormed into the room where John was reading a paperback. 

"Hmm," John said, placing his readers on top of his head and raising an eyebrow. "What'd he do this time?"

"Asked me to take his pink suit to the dry cleaners. If he thinks he can just boss me around all the time, then he's wrong! I won't listen to that little bitch, he can just iron it his own damn self if he's too lazy to go to the dry cleaners! Gah! He's so insufferable!!"

"And yet you do what he says most of the time. Almost seems like you've got the hots for him, despite what you say," John said with a smirk, sitting back to watch Andy throw a fit over that comment.

Throw a fit he did. "Nigel John! Suggesting I have the hots for that son of a bitch? I hate the little cake face! And I'm not gay, God!"

"You have awfully strong feelings for him, it seems," John commented, enjoying Andy's antics.

"Strong feelings of hate!! He's bossy and he's ugly and he always makes me feel stupid and I hate the way he looks at me and--"

"Love and hate aren't that different," said John, cutting him off. 

Andy glowered. "Aw, fuck off John. Fucking hell. I like girls."

John just raised an eyebrow and said nothing. 

In truth, Andy couldn't seem to help but make a fool of himself whenever the other man was around. His presence was intoxicating, Andy acted without thinking, spoke quickly, and when he exited the room Andy was left in a dizzy haze. He hated the effect he had on him, and he hated the fact that it was so obvious to everyone, including John, that Andy did have feelings for him. This made him feel particularly awful about himself. If it was so obvious there was something about him Andy couldn't ignore, why hadn't he made a move? 

Andy sighed frustratedly and looked at the ground. "He's probably not even gay, John."

"Ha!" John said accusingly. "So you do--"

"Shut up!" Andy said, reddening. "I didn't say nothing."

"You don't have to say anything," John said with a smirk. "You've got a thing for Nicky."

Andy looked at the ground, biting his lip. "Even if I do, he isn't gay. And even if he's gay, he wouldn't like me."

"How would you know that?" John asked curiously.

"Because he hasn't made a move!" Andy admitted nervously.

"Maybe he's waiting for you to," John said thoughtfully. "Maybe you should do something special for his birthday."

Andy snorted. "I don't know when his birthday even is, John."

John paused. "It's tomorrow."

"Shit!" Andy shouted. "He only wears his pink suits on special occasions... I should've realized..."

"Yeah, probably."

Andy bit his lip. "John, can you run to the store for me? I'll make you a list, but if I'm going to iron this suit and get everything done tonight I don't have time to--"

"Woah woah woah. What are you talking about?"

"It'll be easier and more time efficient for me to just iron the suit. I've never actually taken anything he's ever told me to all the dry cleaners. And he never can tell the fucking difference! That's not the point! The point is, I have the perfect idea for a surprise, I just need your help getting what I need." Andy started scribbling down his previously promised list.

John frowned curiously. "What's your idea?"

Andy grinned. "I told you, it's a surprise Johnny. But let's just say we're going to need a lot of strawberries..."

 

...

 

He found his pink suit ironed and hanging on a hook in the bathroom the next morning. He wasn't surprised. Andy, as much as he complained and whined and acted angry about it, always pulled through on little favors Nick asked of him. Nick admired the crisp lines on the suit as he put it on, touching up his matching pink lipstick. Everything had to be perfect today.

When he walked into the dining room, he could tell his four best friends had been waiting on him for awhile. Simon was checking his watching, Roger was leaning up against Simon, snoozing, John was working on a paperback, and Andy was impatiently tapping his leg, looking nervous as he'd ever been. 

Andy was a curious little man. Not much shorter than Nick, sure, but whenever he tried to seem scary or intimidating, it just made him seem a whole foot shorter. He always seemed to act on emotion, he was incredibly easy to read. And for some reason, almost whenever Nick was around, he seemed to get twitchy. It got annoying sometimes, but in other ways it was endearing. As much as he’d deny it, he always seemed nervous to impress Nick. 

“Somebody took his sweet time!” Simon commented when Nick finally came into the kitchen. Roger sat up, startled by the sudden noise.

“Nick!” Roger smiled. “Happy birthday!”

“Thank you, Roger,” Nick said, shooting Simon a look and taking a seat at the table. “Did you all really wait for me to eat breakfast? You know you didn’t have to.”

“Andy insisted,” Simon groaned.

“It’s his birthday!” Andy said defensively. “It would be rude to start eating without him.”

“You guys didn’t wait on my birthday...” Simon complained.

“Yeah, because you got up at noon!” John laughed. 

“Is there a breakfast prepared?” Nick asked. He had to admit, he didn’t see the point of them all waiting if they were just going to have toast and cereal anyways.

“Actually,” John said. “There is. Right Andy?”

“Right,” Andy said, red in the face. “I, um, I made pancakes.”

“Well for God’s sake, go get them already!” Simon said.

“Right!” Andy lept up and headed into the kitchen, flustered.

Nick smiled after him, turning to the other boys once he was gone and raising an eyebrow. “He made pancakes?”

“Just for you,” John said.

“I still fail to see his motives,” Simon complained. “He constantly is grumbling about Nick, but the moment he gets a chance, he’ll do something sweet for him? It’s confusing as hell.”

Nick smirked. “I like him doing sweet things for me, I have to admit, I don’t care if he gripes about it.”

“There’s nothing odd about wanting to do something sweet on someone’s birthday!” Roger added softly. “I’m sure we all have our own special things in store for Nicky today.”

“Well, sure,” Simon said. “But isn’t it a little--” He quickly shut his mouth and decided to not finish the thought when Andy entered the room, carrying a platter with pancakes heaped on top of it.

“Breakfast is served!” he announced. He dropped a couple of pancakes onto each person’s plate, then went back around the table, spraying each stack with a little whipped cream, and placing a strawberry on top. 

“There.” He stepped back and surveyed his work. “I think that’ll do...” He looked at Nick. “Uh... How’s that for a birthday treat?”

Nick felt a smile growing on his face. “It looks delicious, Andy.”

Relieved, Andy took his seat at the table. Simon, who had already taken a rather large bite of his stack of pancakes, had a twisted look on his face. After he chewed and swallowed, he quickly drank down most of his tea. “God, Andy! What did you put in these things?!”

“Uh--”

“It’s strawberries!” Nick exclaimed, his face lighting up. “These are strawberry pancakes, aren’t they, Ands?”

“Yes, actually--”

“Oh of course,” Simon groaned. “Fruit in pancakes. I’m going to be sick.”

“I think they’re lovely!” Roger quietly disagreed, giving Andy an approving smile. Andy smiled back at Roger, he had expected that reaction from Simon. The man was famous for being unable to enjoy fruit combined with pancakes or waffles. Simon was hardly is main concern right now, after all. His main concern was on Nick’s reaction, which had turned out to be wonderful. Even now, he was digging into the pancakes, a delighted look on his face, his lips upturned into an adorable little smile. 

John snickered and muttered into Andy’s ear. “You need to eat, too, Master Chef, you can’t just stare at him for your breakfast.” Andy reddened and quickly turned his eyes back to his plate, quite sure no one other than John had noticed him staring at Nick.

The rest of the day passed by quite well. It was just the sort of day Nick had wished for. After breakfast, the other boys shared their own gifts. There was a rhinestone broach from Roger, a record album from John, and a small toy boat from Simon, who quickly admitted after Nick staring at him coldly that his gift was a joke. He pulled a small feathery thing out of his coat which he explained was a toy for Nick’s cat, Sebastian. The boys then went out for dinner at Nick’s favorite restaurant, attending afterwards a fashion show, something the five of them never did together, but seeing as how it was Nick’s birthday, they tried their best to not put up a fuss.

Not putting up a fuss wasn’t going to last forever. About an hour in, Roger was showing signs of being uncomfortable at the crowded show and Simon was getting restless sitting in one place for so long. “Listen,” Simon turned to Nick. “If it’s alright with you, Roger and I are going to head home.” Roger gave Simon a thankful smile. 

Nick barely heard him. “Alright--go home, we’ll meet you there.”

John stood up with the other two. “I’m rather tired myself, I think I’ll go home with these two.” Andy gave him a shocked look, and John smirked, obviously leaving the two with each other for a reason. 

“Mm’kay.” Nick was so engrossed in the show, it wasn’t clear if he was processing any of the information at all.

“We’ll see you two back home later,” John said, obviously enjoying the shocked look on Andy’s face. 

“Alright boys! Let’s go,” Simon announced.

And just like that, it was just the two of them.

“Wow...” Andy whispered.

“I know...” Nick whispered back. “Isn’t it beautiful?” He was talking about the fashion and Andy couldn’t help himself from grinning dorkily at Nick’s fixation. 

“It is beautiful...” Andy agreed, but he wasn’t focused on the runway. Instead, he found his eyes tracing the shape of Nick’s face, trying to memorize the color of his eyes, marveling at his hair. 

“This has been such a wonderful birthday,” Nick gushed.

“It isn’t over yet,” Andy said with a small grin. “I happen to have also made you a cake...”

Nick’s eyes were taken off of the runway for a second as he faced Andy, letting out a gasp. “Andrew! You didn’t.”

“I did,” Andy admitted, blushing. “Don’t make a big fucking deal out of it.”

“It’s very sweet is all,” Nick said, smiling at him, his eyes shining again. There was something thrilling about seeing Nick this happy. 

“You deserve sweet things on your birthday,” Andy said, a little nervously. 

Nick laughed. “You look so unsure of that!”

“Um, well, no! You  _ do _ deserve sweet things, I’m just--”

“Not used to being a sweetheart?” Nick said softly.

“I’m not a sweetheart!” Andy said defensively. “I’m just doing what any friend would do for his friend’s birthday--”

“I can’t wait to taste your cake, Ands,” Nick said with a smile, putting a hand on his arm. “As soon as the show is done, we’ll go back home and we’ll have some of your cake. Okay?”

Andy just nodded dumbly. He was even more flustered when Nick didn’t take his hand off of Andy’s arm but rather left it there when he went back to watch the rest of the show. For what was probably only another thirty minutes or an hour but felt much longer, Andy sat nervously, twitching his leg, both treasuring Nick’s touch and being terrified by it. Was this some sort of signal? It had to be. On the other hand, it could just be friendly arm touching. He was probably overthinking all of this. He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down, but his leg kept twitching until the show was over and Nick offered him a hand to stand up.

Andy quickly took it. Nick was gushing. “That was so grand! Thanks for sticking with me through it all.”

“Of course,” Andy smiled at him. He hated to think it, but Nick was absolutely adorable when he got so excited about something like fashion.

Nick held his arm, leading him through the crowds. “Shall we head home? I can’t wait to taste your cake!”

Andy had to snort at how silly Nick sounded when he talked that way. “Sure, you can ‘taste my cake.’ That’s why I baked it.”

“So thoughtful of you,” Nick said, and Andy was sure he was blushing.

The taxi ride back was a blur to Andy. Nick was yammering about some fashion thing, and by the expression on his face, you could tell it was something fantastic, but Andy could barely understand what the words he was saying meant. He just smiled and nodded. Nick was looking more for someone who would listen to him than input from others. 

The lights were out when they got home. It was late, everyone else was already asleep. “I feel like we’re breaking into our own house,” Nick giggled.

“Shh, let’s sneak in through the living room to get to the kitchen,” Andy joked. Nick giggled more. 

“I heard this cake is so delicious, everyone is trying to break into this house to steal it,” Nick joked back.

Andy snorted. “As if. You’d be a terrible thief, in your bright pink suit.” He turned on the lights and started heading back towards the kitchen.

Nick followed him, still giggling. “Still... you have to admit I look good in it.”

Andy blushed, glad his back was to Nick as he reached for the cake. “Sure you do. You look good in anything, though.”

Nick took a seat at the dining room table, smiling at Andy fondly. “Thank you, dear. So... what sort of cake have you made me?”

Andy cut a slice and put in on a plate before Nick. “Looks just like a vanilla or lemon cake, right?”

“It isn’t?” Nick said with a curious smile. 

“Not quite, just a second.” Andy dashed back into the kitchen and came out a moment later with a bowl of chopped up strawberries, of which he sprinkled a handful on top of Nick’s piece of cake. “It’s strawberry shortcake.”

Nick laughed. “You little trickster, you!” He took a bite and smiled. “I do love strawberries.”

“I know you do,” Andy said with a smile, pulling up a chair and sitting right next to Nick. 

“Today has been quite the surprise,” Nick hummed happily, leaning towards Andy. 

“It has, hasn’t it?” Andy agreed, eating a strawberry out of the bowl. 

Nick chewed his cake thoughtfully, clearing his voice once he’d swallowed. “You know,” he said quietly, looking at his cake, “you should act like this all the time.”

“Act like what?” Andy said, hoping panic wasn’t clear in his voice. “I can’t bake you a fucking cake everyday, Rhodes.”

“I know!” Nick said with a small laugh. “I just mean... it’s usually clear you’re nervous around me. Or you act mean, or scared. But today, you were just being nice. Not that you weren’t nervous...” Nick smirked. “Twitched your leg through that whole fashion show. But the point is! You were trying... to be, um, friendly, I think.”

Andy’s heart dropped. “I was being friendly?”

Nick reddened. “In a way I wasn’t expecting! You’re always friendly, I just mean you usually seem to want to say something to me and you never do. Today, I feel like you did.”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Andy said, gulping, “but I haven’t told you, actually.”

“I think you have,” Nick said, smirking slightly. “With your cake, with your actions... I get the idea of something without you even having said it.”

Andy frowned, red in the face. “Should I even bother, then?”

Nick’s lips curled into a smile. “Why don’t you show me, Ands?” he said, batting his lashes. 

Andy leaned forward so their noses were touching. “I can’t show you that you’re probably the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, that I’ve only ever called you ugly because I was too afraid of admitting that. I can’t show you that--”

Before Andy could continue you, Nick closed the space between their faces, and suddenly they were lost in a kiss. Nick’s lips were soft and tasted slightly of strawberries. Andy was usually a rather rough kisser, in fact, he didn’t even enjoy kissing that much, but Nick made him understand why people did enjoy kissing. It was both terrifying and relaxing at the same time, exciting and comforting. 

When they pulled away, Andy was grinning at Nick like a huge dork and he hoped Nick wouldn’t care. Much to his relief, Nick was smiling a similar smile and placed another small peck on Andy’s lips.

“Thank you, Ands,” he said softly, his voice filled with sugar, “for making my birthday full of surprises.”

“Of course,” Andy replied, kissing him quickly. “It is your birthday, after all, and you deserve the best.”

Nick smiled and kissed him again. “I think I found the best,” he said, his eyes shining. He kissed Andy once more and then took a strawberry from the bowl, popping it in his mouth. 

**Author's Note:**

> It's Nick's birthday so here's a pretty much uneditted fic I mashed out in the last twenty four hours in order for it to be Relevant I do hope it's not too rambly (might have to go back and edit it later). Anyways, hope it was enjoyable. I don't know why all of the Durans live together in this either btw but like I said it's uneditted and fixing that would require me not getting sleep or not being Relevant and I can always edit later. Have a lil Nandy!


End file.
